Medical Advisory Board (MAB)

The SB&H Medical Advisory Board (MAB) provides us with the best in medical guidance and support.

It consists of an esteemed group of surgeons, neuropsychologists, clinical nurse practitioners, and scientists under the leadership and direction of noted neurosurgeon Dr. Abhaya Kulkarni. We are delighted that these leaders in their fields have chosen to dedicate their valuable time to the Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus Association of Ontario (SB&H).

MEDICAL ADVISORY BOARD CHAIR

Dr. Abhaya V. Kulkarni, MD, PhD, FRCSC

Division of Neurosurgery
The Hospital for Sick Children

Dr. Kulkarni obtained his MD degree in 1994 and his neurosurgery certification in 2002. He joined the Division of Neurosurgery at Sick Kids in 2003.

Dr. Michael Cusimano, MD, MHPE, FRCS, DABNS, PhD, FACS

Adjunct Scientist in the Keenan Research Centre of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital

Professor, Surgery, Education and Public Health, University of Toronto

Dr. Cusimano received his MD and PhD from the University of Toronto, his Masters degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Fellowship in Skull Base and Microvascular Surgery from the University of Pittsburgh. Since 1992, Dr. Cusimano has been a Staff Neurosurgeon at St. Michael’s Hospital with a cross appointment at the Hospital for Sick Children and UHN.

Dr. Michael Vassilyadi, MD, CM, MSc, FRCS (C), FACS, FAAP

Associate Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics, University of Ottawa

Division of Neurosurgery
Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario

Dr. Vassilyadi completed medical school at McGill University and neurosurgical residency at the Montreal Neurological Institute. His Pediatric Neurosurgery fellowship was at the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Sandrine de Ribaupierre, MD, FRCSC

London Health Sciences Centre

Assistant Professor in the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of Western Ontario

Dr. de Ribaupierre earned her MD at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. After a Neurosurgery residency in Lausanne (Switzerland), she completed an epilepsy fellowship in the Fondation Rothschild in Paris (France), then a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship in the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.